My Time To Shine
by WhiskyDrinking
Summary: Ace was just a normal guy, well maybe a bit of a loser, but still normal. But a bizarre turn of events leads to him finding himself in the world of Remnant. He only has two things on his brain. "How am I going to survive?" "Am I in a damn Self Insert story?"
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Well folks, I've got a couple things to say before we , this is a Self Insert story. Yes, I know they're garbage. To be fair, while it still follows the structure of SI, the main character is nothing like myself so it'd be more like an OC insert, but I'm not going to argue semantics. If you don't like that sort of thing, then I don't think you'll enjoy this very much. Anyway, on to the story!**

Chapter 1: A Rude Awakening

**Ace POV:**

My eyes shot open, hearing a strange pounding on my door. Of course, waking up at odd hours of the night to my father barging into my room wasn't uncommon, as he always wanted help with some project or another in relation to his car. However this time it was different, my father _never_ knocked. I think he felt it was unbefitting of a man to knock but oh well, he was old fashioned like that.

I slipped out of bed, making as little noise as I could. I reached out and grabbed one of the many knives that sat on my desk, slipping it behind my back as I crept forward. When I reached the door I opened it slowly, not trying to make a scene in case it was my mother in an uncharacteristic state of mind.

When the door opened, I saw nothing and chuckled at my own paranoia. I had imagined knocking at my door and blew it out of proportion. I looked down at the knife in my hand. I bet you're expecting me to spout some edgy nonsense about how, 'They are a representation of my true self' but nah. I'm a collector. I respect the art of blade smithing and I own a number of swords and knives. Nothing but an odd quirk of mine. I had gotten into the hobby after I began to throw knives, and threw that I started to love everything around them.

As I spaced out thinking to myself I turned around and yelped. In front of me was a smug looking lass about as tall as me. I quickly put together that she had rigged the door as a distraction so she could slip in some other way. Backing off I flipped the knife so I was ready to throw, the balance was way off but it was all I had to work with at the moment.

"You can put the knife down, I'm not here to hurt you." She said, still smiling.

"You expect me to trust you based on your word?" I asked cocking one eyebrow.

"Uhhh, good point." She sheepishly responded, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Well uh, you can keep the knife if it makes you feel safe, but can you please keep it down at your side? It's kind of making me uncomfortable…" She said, slightly embarrassed. I thought the terms were agreeable as I dropped it down to my side, still ready for an attack if need be.

"So ummm, can you please put some clothes on?" She asked. Now it was my turn to be embarrassed. I stood there in nothing but my underwear (boxer briefs if you're wondering, obviously the superior style.) I scrambled for my closet, being met with the massive room. Yes, my other hobby was menswear. I had all manner of suits, ties, shoes, and anything you could ever want. Before you ask, I was the weird guy in your high school class who would wear a full suit. Despite this, I did have some more casual clothes and I threw on a pair of grey jeans. I wore a black button down shirt and a similarly grey waistcoat. I grabbed a simple pair of dress boots and ran my fingers through my hair in an attempt to be at least somewhat presentable. She may be an intruder, but it's good to look one's best in any scenario. Red hair and green eyes stared at me back in the mirror as I slapped myself, bringing me to reality and reminding me there was someone in my bedroom who had managed to sneak in completely beneath my nose.

I exited the closet door once again. Surprisingly, it wasn't a trap and she indeed just wanted me to have clothes on. I walked past my desk, grabbing my phone and some cords on the way over. (Hey if she's gonna kidnap me or something, might as well be able to listen to music and charge my phone.) She seemingly sensed my thoughts.

"Well, if you think I'm gonna kidnap you, that's not _technically _what's going to happen." This confused me as I wondered what she meant by that. Another thing you might be wondering, why am I so calm at this? Well it's not because I'm some combat god who can down anyone with just a couple punches. It's because I really don't have anything to lose. My friends all moved on, I don't have a girlfriend (never have in fact. Haha laugh all you like, it was by choice, thank you very much, I never met the right girl.) and my parents would get over it eventually. It's not like they don't love me, but they're troopers, they'll be sad about it, sure, but it's not like they'll die over it.

"So, where are you going to take me when you _don't_ kidnap me?" I asked as she smiled at my sass.

"See? You get it. Well I can't tell you that yet, but it won't be a part of this world. They need someone like you. I can't tell you why but let's just say this world needs a new… perspective." She said in an attempt to convince me, but I had already made up my mind. I wasn't going anywhere so might as well go somewhere that allegedly needs me.

"So… what do you say?" She asked hesitantly, I assume she was new to this whole recruiting people thing.

"Eh, why the hell not?" I asked no one in particular as I reached out a hand and she did in turn. As I grasped her hand my mind suddenly saw something. All around me gears turned. I recognized them, the mechanisms of an old clock. I owned a couple pocket watches which I had to keep regular maintenance of, so I was familiar. The gears grinded and a regular tick began as I started to fall. I tried to yell but it was clear that no one would hear me, the only noise that mattered here was the ticking. Terror consumed my being at the thought that this was what I would be facing. However as quickly as the geared entered my mind they left, leaving me with only a black void and the faint ticking. Finally, that disappeared as well, letting me return to the land of the living.

I sighed in relief, glad that it was over. I wondered if it was all a dream but as I looked around I saw a dense green forest. The girl was nowhere to be seen which left me to deduce my location on my own. I could be anywhere. Quite literally, I was supposedly in some world other than my own, although luckily it did seem to resemble earth.

I began to walk around, in an attempt to decipher what exactly I was supposed to do. However before I could find what to do, I found out an answer to another one of my questions. As I turned the corner I saw a massive pack of animals, all covered in familiar black fur and bone plating all over their bodies. As I freaked out about the fact I had ended up in the world of Remnant, I focused myself on getting out of the situation I had found myself in. But as I stepped backwards I felt something that made my heart drop. A patch of fur, next to a thick coat of bone.

"Oh son of a bitch." I said to myself as the thing let out a massive roar, obviously alerting the entire pack. Of course, this was my time to get out of there, so I ignored my shock and terror and began to run.

"What have I gotten myself into?"

**Well folks, that's that. I hope you all enjoyed, though if you didn't I'd stick around. After all, we haven't even gotten into the RWBY stuff. If you're worried about this other OC I wouldn't, she won't be a main character or anything, just needed a way to roll into the story that was a bit unique. She'll come up in time, but that's something you'll have to wait to see. Well anyway, hope you all have a good day.**


	2. Chapter 2

Well we're back. This story got a much better reaction than I expected, which really motivates me to keep going. For those who are wondering about update schedule, I hope to update more or less every Friday. Now, onto the main event.

Chapter 2: Fighting for my Life.

Ace POV:

I continued to sprint as fast as I can, pushing my body to its limits. It's not like I was an unhealthy guy, but my main sport was throwing knives, so my endurance isn't exactly the best. I kept ducking through the trees and around rocks but nothing seemed to slow them. Should've expected that. My lungs began to burn as I kept pushing, apparently I was needed here and I wasn't about to die to some boneplated terrible excuse for a werewolf. Weren't these things supposed to be some of the tamer enemies in this world? Oh well I guess they'd be easier if I had aura. Huh, I wonder if I even have aura?

As I thought to myself, I noticed that the grimm began to gain distance on me. This wasn't good, as the only thing I had to defend myself with was the knife I had picked up earlier. It was a rather large combat knife I had picked up sometime around the start of my collection. As I considered my options something happened that surprised me. Most of the wolves began to split off the chase and retreat back into the forest, leaving only one chasing me. Despite the stroke of good luck, I still wasn't going to make it much longer, and this is when I made my decision. 'Nothing ventured, nothing learned' as they say.

I slammed my heel into the ground and spun around as fast as I could, pulling the knife out from the sheath it lay in on the inside of my pants. I began sprint as fast as I could at the beowulf, knife clutched in my grasp. As I arrived in it's range it tried to swing a large paw at me but it was too late. Right as it brought the paw down I lunged towards it's shoulder and planted the knife deep inside, hindering its movement. I pulled the knife out and this time sent it careening through the exposed eye socket, making it let out a guttural screech. Before it could finish I finally jammed the knife back into it's exposed mouth, praying to God it wouldn't bite down, and met the flesh of it's head. I threw all my body weight into the strike which pushed the knife back into the head and ending it's life.

The thing began to dissipate around my hand and I sighed. Immediately after I began to laugh with excitement.

"Suck it you wolf bastard! I don't even need aura to beat you!" I shouted at the now non existent beowulf. However before I could finish my celebration my situation was made even worse. A chorus of guttural barks echoed from the woods and I saw the entire group of beowolves I thought had escaped earlier. They're wolves so of course they have to be pack hunters… great. Thanks Rooster Teeth! This brought another thought to my brain. How does this world exist? It was just a web series made in the brain of a man (Rest his Soul.) Would that make him God? Well that didn't make sense because they recently confirmed that the world itself was made by two gods… Hmmm. Well that's an inquiry for later, for now I have to focus on getting out of this mess.

I looked all around me in an attempt to find an exit, but all was naught. That must be why they broke off earlier, to surround me. They're pretty smart I'll give them that. I pulled my knife to my side, in a futile attempt to somehow defend myself from the fate I was about to meet. Suddenly a sound of unknown origin met my ears. It sounded like rustling, but not that of a beast. It sounded like it was waiting for a certain moment, and soon after I figured out just what that moment was.

One of the beowolves made the mistake of beginning to close in on me when suddenly an explosion of colors shot from outside of the bushes, 4 girls all armed to the teeth. Orders were shouted by the one in red as they took out the entire pack with relative ease. My head was spinning as I struggled to watch the actions of all four at once. Once everything had calmed down, my breathing began to slow as I realized I would live another day.

Then as soon as I calmed down my brain made a connection. 4 girls… Different colors… Large weapons…

"HI!" a high pitched shout came from the one in red.

I'll be completely honest this knocked me on my ass in surprise. For the second time today, this girl as well rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. What is it with me and making girls embarrassed? Am I really that bad?

"Uhhh sorry, I was just kinda excited…" She said apologetically.

"So, let's get down to business! Our professor saw you on one of his weird security cameras," She said miming the lens of a camera with her hands.

"And he thought you looked lost so he wanted us to come escort you!" She finished excitedly. She looked back to her team only to see the one in white raised an eyebrow.

"Oh wait! I forgot to introduce us!" She shouted.

"I'm Ruby!" She began

"My name is Weiss." Weiss said with a slight curtsy.

"Blake." Blake just said with a slight smile.

"And I'm Yang!" Yang said just as excited as her sister.

"And we're Team RWBY!" Ruby took over once again as Weiss now nodded. I smiled, this must have been at a point when the two have already resolved their differences. I pretended like I didn't already know their names.

"Alright, my name is Ace." I said, bowing slightly. Chivalry, and all that.

"So… may I ask why your professor thought to trust me? I mean I am a strange man who is wandering the woods." I said. I know Ozpin plays an intense game of chess and I'd like to gleam his play if I'm going to do anything to prevent the events of Volume 3 playing out.

"Thank you! It seems you're the only sensible one around here." Weiss said in exasperation.

"How is it that he is the only one who has any sense when it comes to him." She said to me as the whole group laughed.

"Come on, we've got a Bullhead waiting just over there!" Yang cheerily shouted as she pointed behind her.

"Well, not like I've got anything better to do." I said jokingly as the five of us began walking towards the airship.

After a rather uneventful ride, filled mostly with comforting silence, we arrived at Beacon academy itself and wow. It's one thing on screen but in real life the sight is simply amazing. The girls all saw my mouth agape at the sight and smiled.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Blake said. I didn't respond with much, just a simple nod in agreement. This however, seemed to be more than enough for her as she went back to sitting in silence. The airship closed in on the landing dock and parked with a roar. I assumed this was normal as the girls around me didn't react one bit. Shrugging my shoulders I stood up, ready to meet the professor himself. As we stepped off the airship, I saw the true size of the school. I stood there, mesmerized by what I was looking at, and was met with one simple phrase.

"Welcome to Beacon."

Here we are, we've made it to Beacon and met team RWBY, this is where we actually start getting into the main story. Don't worry though, I'm not going to just insert my character into the plot. He'll be affecting more than he thinks, whether he likes it or not.

Edit: I have no idea what was going on with all the code, all I know is that I'm not going to try uploading with mobile anymore. Here's the real chapter for all of you.


	3. Chapter 3

**Now, number 3. I know I promised updates every Friday, but I feel I owe this one a bit early after the debacle from last week. I don't think many of you fancy deciphering my story from a string of code. For those who have not seen it's since been fixed, so now we're onto the third installment of our little tale.**

Chapter 3: Welcome to Beacon

After my awe died down the girls began to lead me towards the tower where Ozpin's office resided. There was conflict in my brain however. I'm not going to try and act like I'm from Remnant. I know plenty about the world from the show, but they only gave us so much. Yeah I may know about the evil forces trying to destroy the world, but it's not like I know how to file my taxes. Do they even have taxes here? Come to think of it, I have no idea how the money even works.

Yeah, definitely telling him about that. The true question, is if I should tell him about RWBY as a show. On one hand he would be more prepared about the attack in Volume 3, but it's not like he can just launch an all out attack on Cinder. On top of that, while it will be hard for him to accept me coming from another world, learning that his entire world is merely a show for our entertainment might be a bit unbelievable. Yeah I could spout some knowledge that only he has, but that would only convince him that I work for the enemy. Besides, that would put a massive target on my back, and I don't really want that. For now it would be better to act in the shadows.

Another issue I have is pretty unique. I have no idea what to expect from the girls themselves. Yeah there's the show, but all in all we don't really get a lot of character interactions. I have an image in my brain for each of them, but fanfiction isn't necessarily canon. The way the fandom sees the characters may be wildly wrong. Well when it comes to that I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

"Why so quiet? Cat got your tongue?" I heard Yang say pulling me out of my thoughts.

"No just thinking." I replied.

"Oh come onnnnn, you've gotta give me something, can't just be a brick wall if we're gonna be friends." She said. She looked back at Blake and then returned her gaze to me.

"She doesn't count." I smiled at that, it seems that if nothing else, the group really were as good friends as the fans portrayed them.

"Oh? And who said I wanted to be your friend?" I jokingly replied. She raised her hand to her chest in fake astonishment.

"After all we've done for you…" After a second we both started to laugh.

"Alright new guy, you seem pretty cool." She said before she proved the entirety of the fandom right.

"Might want to put on a scarf!" The four girls groaned as she looked for approval. I simply smirked at the revelation. She looked towards me,

"Eh, at least you're not _completely_ annoyed. I count that as a win." Yang said as we finally reached the elevator. This was it, now was the moment where I would have to work harder than I ever had to persuade my way into Ozpin's good graces. I took a deep breath and heard something surprisingly reassuring.

"You'll do fine." Who said it was even more surprisingly, it was Weiss. Now that was something I couldn't see coming.

"Whatever happened to not trusting the strange man who came from the sky?" I asked, not trying to convince her otherwise, but wanting to understand the change in opinion.

"Over the years I've developed a pretty good sense of people. I can see that you have good intentions, and if not you're very skilled at hiding it." She said as I understood. Unknown to her I was aware of how her childhood was, so I understood why she would've developed something like that.

We stepped onto the elevator and the ride went silently. I think they could sense my hesitation. Once we reached the top of the elevator I saw the room. Gears everywhere, almost as if we were in a clock. A quick flash of the place before Remnant entered my brain. The tick and grind of the gears. But as quickly as it entered my brain, it escaped.

"Are you okay?" Yang asked appearing at my side. I had apparently fallen to the ground in panic.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it." I said. I didn't wish to alienate them but I really didn't feel comfortable talking about that place. They shook it off as I stood up once again and we continued into the office.

"Quite the tumble you took just there young man, are you alright?" The voice was Ozpin. His appearance by all means was an anomaly. Brilliant silver hair and a wise demeanor signifying age, but at the same time, he didn't look a day over 20. I shook my head, it's rude to stare.

"I am sir. My apologies, I am quite nervous." I replied, making sure to speak intently. He wore the outfit the show portrayed, a deep forest green three piece suit with a shawl collar and a green scarf. On his face of course, were the simple round spectacles that he worse.

"You have no reason to be nervous young man." He said smiling.

"Team RWBY, thank you for your service, may you please return to class?" Ozpin asked the ladies who all had different reactions. However they all replied,

"Yes sir." After the girls exited the room, Ozpin turned to me.

"Well, I'm sure you have quite the story for me." He said as I sighed. I looked around, trying to find the courage to speak. All the sudden I noticed Glynda Goodwich simply standing in the corner. I was able to contain my gasp of surprise as she stared daggers into my soul. She really was as intimidating as the show made her out to be.

"Glynda would you please be so kind as to give us privacy? I'm sure he's had a very long day." She nodded her head and exited the office, letting me relax a little.

"Well sir, I am only so nervous because my story is rather unbelievable." I said honestly. The man let off a very calming aura. I thought to the developments the show had recently gave us. (And I also remembered the fact that I'd never get to watch Volume 7, something I had mixed emotions about.) The show portrayed him to be some sort of monster by withholding the information, but to me, he was understandable. I know why he did what he did and I honestly don't blame him.

"Well, I have lived a long life and have seen a lot of things. Trust me, there is not much that can surprise me." He said as I knew just how much that phrase referred to. But I sighed, this isn't just some everyday issue.

"Well in that case, be prepared…" And so I told him. I explained that I was from another world, and the experiences that brought me to where I was.

Well having Ozpin believe him may be a tricky task for Ace, the man has also seen a lot of things, so he may get a better reaction then he thinks. I went ahead and made Weiss a bit more accepting from the start as this is post volume 1, where she learned to be a bit more trusting. This doesn't mean she's going to immediately accept him, but she at least doesn't hate him, and she will be courteous. We also get to see a bit of how Yang and Ace's friendship will go. Well, with that I bit you all adieu, I hope you enjoyed and I hope you all have a wonderful day


	4. Notice

Well, I'm back.

Those who have read this story are able to see that both Chapters 4 and 5 have been deleted.

After I reread them I have decided that I would like to take the story in a slightly different direction, at least when it comes to our main character.

So Chapter 4 and 5 will be getting a redo.

By the time this is uploaded, the new Chapter 4 should be out as well, and hopefully we'll be back on track.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Finding my place

"So, you're saying that you're from another world, and were magically transported here."

"Sounds about right yeah."

"Well young man that's quite the story. I'd like to discuss it further at a later time."

"At a later time… Wait hold on, you're letting me stay?"

"I've made many mistakes over my long life, but I don't think this will be one of them. Something is telling me you're not lying, and in that case I'd like to assist your situation in any way I can."

My head was spinning. I would be staying at Beacon! Ozpin believed me! This day was going much better than I thought it would.

"Now to the bad news." His sentence brought me back to reality. Bad news? What bad news could there be? Would I have to do manual labor to stay? Would I have to be a janitor?

"If I were to tell the council that a random boy off the streets was staying on Beacon questions would be asked, and I'm afraid I don't have the answers." I knew this was a possibility, but I didn't know how much sway he had at this time in the show.

"So instead you will have to enroll as a student." He said bluntly.

"Bad news? That's bad news?" I asked exasperated about his assumption that would be bad news.

"Well I'm relieved that you are ready to learn, despite your… interesting situation." He responded with a smirk on his face. Of course he was just messing with me. He likes to mess with people, another point on the list of fan predictions.

"Now, there's a couple things I'm going to need before we get you enrolled. Let's start with your name."

He said as I realized how rude I had been.

"Ace, sir. Ace Greyson"

"Hmmm, Greyson. That might work." He said looking down and thinking. Of course I feigned ignorance.

"What do you mean sir?"

"It's nothing, just a tradition of our world… While it's not a requirement, names usually take inspiration from a color. Greyson obviously has grey in it. So we can work from that. How do you feel about 'Ace Grey'?" He worked this all out quite quickly. I knew this was coming but I didn't think it would be so soon.

"That sounds perfect sir. Thank you." I said politely.

"Now the other issue, do you have any fighting experience?" The question I was worried about. I'd been in fights before but never anything major. I could stand against a couple grunts but huntsman? Never. Then it came to me. While it wasn't perfect, I was a good shot. I could stand to improve at close quarters but when I was focused I could hit any target you threw at me.

"Well, I'm about average when it comes to close combat, but I am quite skilled with a gun, I spend some time shooting targets every so often. Would it be possible for me to incorporate that somehow?" I asked, can never be too careful when it comes to what I know.

"Quite the interesting strategy you have there young man. Very intelligent seeing as you aren't experienced in fighting Grimm, or your fellow huntsman." He said this as he looked down, seemingly considering something.

"There is something I have, but I need you to promise me something." He said as he faced me.

"You need to promise that you won't be careless with what I'm going to give you. It's experimental, straight from Atlas. I was told to let one of my students test it out. Of course I was going to pick one of my most talented 4th years. However this is an unusual situation and thus I will take unusual actions." He said all of this as he stood up and made his way over to another door.

This had never been shown to us, so it piqued my interest heavily. We walked down the hallway that it led to, eventually finding a room with all manner of items. He led me to a podium where something odd sat. It was an arm guard of sorts. Made of a sleek black metal that would cover a man's forearm and hand.

"The General has been having experiments run. He's trying to build an exoskeleton, something that will improve the human bodies strength and speed tenfold, this is what we have so far." He said as I gasped. This was impressive. The way Ozpin described this thing was on a whole nother level.

"This will help you get around the issue of using a firearm as your main weapon, you will draw faster than any other and your aim will be as steady as we can possibly achieve. Recoil will be a non issue.I imagine this will suit your need for a weapon, don't you agree?" He finally finished his statement with a question as I was left speechless.

"Why are you doing all this for me?" I asked him. I was aware of the fight against Salem, but he had no reason to lay his trust in a man had he never met.

"I can see that you're in search of a direction in life. I hope to provide that." He finished his sentence as he implored me to take what lay in front of me.

I eagerly picked it up, watching it open up. I fitted my arm into the opening, and stood amazed as the metal shifted, perfectly adapting to me. With my sleeve sitting below my elbow, it almost appeared as a metal arm. I chuckled in excitement at this. Not only was it practical, but also looked damn cool.

"Now Mr. Grey, what say we try this out?" he smiled and pointed towards the weapon. I almost squealed at this as he led me down another room. There at the end of the hall, was an arena of sorts.

"This is the room that I use for training occasionally." He said which blew my mind. I knew from the end of Volume 3 he was quite the skilled fighter, but I never considered that he would have to practice. I guess gaining a new body every once in a while would lead to that. He walked over to a control panel and pressed some buttons which immediately produced a robot shaped like an average person. I assumed this would be my target.

Ozpin walked up to me and gave me a generic handgun. It resembled a Glock 19, but was slightly buliker, made to house a larger round. I slid the magazine out and checked to see the bullets were much larger than you'd generally expect.

'I guess Dust rounds are larger, good to know.' I thought to myself as I inserted the magazine once again.

After I finished tinkering with my new gadgets I prepared my hands and asked Ozpin to begin. I worried about this as I had no aura but I assumed he would have set the robot to go easy on me.

I clenched my fist and pulled my hands in front of me, ready for a clear shot, as the robot's arm morphed into a large sword. It readied it's stance as I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. That really was a sword. Squinting I steadied myself, now wasn't the time for worries. Now was the time to see what I could do. Both of us finished our preparations and with a loud bang the match began.

**Well here's our replacement. You might notice that it is quite similar to the old chapter and you'd be right. Not too much is going to change about the events that occur, only how our protagonist gets along. With that said, I hope you all have a good day. **


	6. Update

So everyone, it's been a while hasn't it? I know I'm not near big enough to actually be able to act like anyone actually cared, but I thought I'd still give an update on everything.

So I haven't been on here in a while, given everything going on right now I don't think anyone would actually blame me but I was away for much longer than our pandemic problem has. I'm not even going to get into that as it would just bore you all. Either way, I have returned and plan to pick up where I left off.

Now there is one important note here. I HAVE NOT SEEN VOLUME 7 OF RWBY YET. Yes I know it's bad of me to start writing once again before getting caught up, but honestly I dislike the direction the show has been heading in for a while now and while the first episode (I did watch) was entertaining, I got very annoyed and bored quickly after so I stopped watching. If this is a huge turn off for you, feel free to stop reading my story from here on out, I won't blame you. I will eventually watch it of course, and may very well enjoy it, but I plan to continue the story in the original direction it was going in as opposed to doing anymore changing. (I've had the story in my brain since the release of volume 3, but I was smart to let the show continue a while more before I actually did any stories with it.) Now, I'll be getting back to everyone with the final changes and then we can finally pick back up on the story.

Thank you for sticking with me.


	7. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5:

Ace POV

The robot charged at me as I took a shot immediately. The bullet collided with it's chest, bouncing off and damaging the robot's artificial aura. As soon as the thought passed through my head I realized. I don't have an aura. With this I started to panic, had Ozpin forgotten? I considered attempting to gain Ozpin's attention but it was all for naught. He was a clever man, and I'm sure he did this on purpose. I pulled off a couple more shots and slipped under the sword the bot had now swung at my head. I kicked the robot forward, putting me behind it and creating some distance.

I attempted to put a shot in the back of it's head but it quickly spun around, not being affected in anyway. Damnit, this wasn't an ordinary human enemy. It's incredible recovery speed most is most likely surpassed by other huntsman, who I will eventually have to fight. I had to think of another fight. I definitely couldn't keep up in a war of attrition so I had to finish this. Fast. I couldn't afford to waste any movements lest I get too tired to adequately fight.

I wracked my brain for some way to take down the enemy. Simply shooting single regular rounds wasn't going to work. It's clear why most of the characters in the show make use of either a much more powerful firearm, or some other type of weapon. The rounds aren't toys, and do good damage, but by the time I can shatter this thing's aura I'll be long since exhausted. And in a real fight by the time I did enough damage I would be downed two times over. Suddenly an idea came to my brain. I looked down at the weapon in my hand, noticing a simple knob on one side.

'Let's hope.' I thought to myself as I spun the dial, and heard a click inside the magazine. Smiling,I aimed the gun again and squeezed the trigger, as an explosion of flame rocketed towards my enemy. I couldn't help but laugh to myself as I prepared to play with my new toy.

The shot connected with the intended mark, blowing a significant chunk of aura, and stunning the robot to give me a second of reprieve. Now this is what I'm talking about. Noticing the bot was low on aura, I sighed. Well no matter what kind of dust I can cram into this thing, I'll never get by without _some_ kind of hand to hand experience. I'll have to work on designing a weapon someday maybe...

I gulped and ran forward, pulling my combat knife from the sheath on my side. The robot tried to swing it's sword but in it's damaged state I was able to duck under quickly. I gave a quick slash to the head before spinning around to dodge another swipe. I stabbed the hand holding the sword, keeping it from attacking once again. Twisting, the bot dropped the sword. I see they had programmed a real pain response into this thing. Finally, the aura cracked and I pulled my knife out, sending it flying through the face plate, and disabling the enemy. I let out a sigh of relief. I had won, and with all my limbs to boot. A nervous laugh escaped my lips as I realized how close I got to taking some serious damage with my reckless idea.

With this, I turned to Ozpin.

"What the hell were you thinking sending me in there with no aura?" I asked him.

"How do you know about aura?" He asked me a question that made me realize my mistake. He had never mentioned Aura, and I bet if I told him one of the girls mentioned it he'd ask them. I thought of a response quickly.

"Well that bar up there is labeled 'Aura' and the robot was equipped with a forcefield until the bar was drained. If it was something only specific to the robot wouldn't it be labeled 'Power'? There is a spot for another individual to be entered, who I'm assuming would be the combatant. Furthermore, as I was lead here by Team RWBY, I saw a student punch another, which resulted in the same effect that occured when I hit that robot. I was not somehow eavesdropping on important information sir, just used simple deduction." I finished my words, smiling. Usually I'd feel that's too overdrawn to be real but he doesn't know me. He's bound to believe that I'm just very deductive. He stood there for a couple seconds seemingly pondering before he smiled.

"Excellent deduction Mr. Grey." He said trying out my new name.

"I'm glad that you were able to figure all of that out that quickly. And to answer your question, it was a test. Before I equipped you with Aura, I wanted to test how you would fight without it." He said as I considered that. He was testing me. But wait that means…

"So what would've happened if that thing actually hit me?!" I asked exasperated. Did he really put my life in danger for the sake of his test? He chuckled at that.

"It wasn't a real sword despite how it may appear. Totally blunt, instead the blade is fitted with electricity." This made me sigh in relief once again.

"So I would've been totally fine?" I asked gladly.

"Well not exactly _totally_ fine, but it would cause no permanent harm, maybe just a great deal of pain." He said thinking.

"WHAT!?" I shouted before he began to laugh loudly.

"I'm jesting Mr. Grey, you would've been fine." God damnit I'm gonna have to get used to this aren't I?

"Yeah yeah alright, have you gotten what you need?" I asked bringing the conversation back on track.

"I have indeed young man, now if you would please follow me once again." Damn he's taking me all over the place. I joined him as we walked out to his office again. He turned to me and began to speak.

"Are you ready for this? There is a reason we don't unlock the aura of everyone. If the Grimm see someone with aura, they become a natural target. It will ignore almost all other prey to search you out. Good for huntsman who need to draw Grimm away from civilians but I need you to tell me that you are ready." I nodded my head but he continued.

"I need a verbal confirmation. You weren't born here and you hold no obligation to this world, there is no going back once you've agreed." I had already made my decision.

"Yes sir. I agree to this and all the terms that come along with." I said with conviction. This world needs help, and no matter how insignificant I am, I will help.

"My determination will keep me going sir. I am ready." He placed a hand on my shoulder and I braced. I don't know what will happen once this is complete. I don't know if my body will even be compatible with aura. But whatever gets me closer to my goal is what I will do.

*AURA UNLOCK SPEECH*

My body was surrounded in a brilliant golden light as I felt… lighter. Not just that I felt stronger, faster, more agile. Just overall better.

'So this is what Aura is like?' I thought to myself.

"Now… Mr. Grey. Are you ready to become a huntsman?"

**Now, I have decided this would be the time to establish my view on Aura, and how it will be applied to this story. I always saw Aura not as a passive thing, but as active. That means while aura might be passively activated, providing **_**better**_ **protection, it isn't complete, like what we see in the show. It's not a force field unless the huntsman wills it to be. This way, if a huntsman is taking a lot of blows to the chest, they will focus more aura to that spot to create an even stronger protective field, but this draws away from the aura protecting the rest of the body. With the aura not being used actively they still have damn good protection, but it's more like a sheet of thick cloth armor, as opposed to a full on force field. It's hard to, but with enough force it can be punctured. This makes surprise attacks possible, and can lead to the occurrence in the story, where Ace makes the robot focus it's aura to its chest, and then he attacks the hand.**


End file.
